The Bear Mountain Challenge hosted by the Fraser Valley Mountain Bike Association is a weekend of racing for both downhill and cross country racers, and the Sunshine Coast Cycling Club (SCC) was out in full force.
The cross country course took riders on a gruelling 2.5 kilometre climb, eventually dropping them into a technical descent. SCC riders found the course to be challenging and fun at the same time. Our local riders are known for their climbing skills, so this was a course for them. Christine Lynch (senior women), Jessica Marquis (junior women) and Louis Dillon (U15 men) all took top spot in their respective categories.
Dillon Mennie has made a switch from downhill to cross country and proved himself worthy on his cross country bike, taking fourth place in the junior men's category. Sarah Fedor (junior women) and Eric Dillon (U15 men) also finished fourth in their categories. Jesse Horn took sixth in the senior men. U15 rider Jonas Lomax crashed and destroyed his rear derailleur early in the race. With his derailleur and chain firmly lodged in his rear spokes, he carried his bike for the rest of the course to complete the lap and finish fifth in the U15s.The downhill course was an extremely challenging and technical descent known for its crashes that injure both bike and rider. U15 rider Harrison Dux-bury-Sleep took the win in 4:08:31 and a brilliant move by Forrest Riesco put him into third place in that category in 4:11.96. Forrest crashed last year on a huge gap jump and destroyed his rear wheel, but this year carefully scouted a sweet line around the gap jump, a line that apparently none of the other riders had seen. Forrest was able to stay on the gas and sweep back onto the course, losing only a second on the go round.
U17 rider Linden Feniak finished second with a smoking time of 3:51.37. Jenna Phelps made the podium in junior women with a third place 5:45:41 time. In U19 citizen men, Reese Nelson was sixth in a time of 4:14:98 and Simon Young was 28th in a time of 5:19:45, rounding out the SCC racers. Local rider Kristian Short took first place in the senior men's race with a fantastic time of 3:41:67.
SCC riders are taking a few weeks off from the BC Cup series. Next race is the SunPeaks downhill in August, then the BC Cup Cham-pionships at Mount Washington on the Labour Day long weekend.
